The Autonomous Programming Challenge is intended to challenge students to explore and improve their programming skills by writing autonomous programs for a virtual robot within a virtual game field. The challenge is designed to be very similar in concept and objectives as a physical BEST competition. The challenge is open to all middle-school and high-school students. Students can compete as a team and/or individually. Top-scoring teams and individuals will be recognized with awards for their achievements.

Students wishing to participate should have their parent register them for the challenge using a parent email. To access the free Mathworks software required for this challenge, an adult (the students' teacher or team mentor) will need to submit the software request. A single software request (preferred) can be made for multiple students.